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Diinlang Dynamic Dictionary

One of the current problems of Diinlang is the lack of vocabulary, or rather, a lack of an up-to-date central resource of the words created.
Over the years this project has been running many words have been tried. Some have entered use, some have been changed, and some have been forgotten along the way.
To try an address this issue, I am creating this page as a dynamic dictionary of Diinlang. Expect this page to expand. Words or meanings may be changed as better alternatives are found.
Keep an eye on the page version number to ensure your wordlist is up-to-date.
Version 1.0.4.6

Prefixes

mo- : forms comparatives. 
no-/non- : negates or makes opposite the meaning of the word to which it is attached. Use is similar to SOME of the uses of the suffix un- in English.
re- is used at the start of some Diinlang words with the same or similar meaning to its use in English.
ve mo- : forms superlatives; “the most…”.

Suffixes

-a : The suffix -a when applied to pronouns and certain animate nouns indicates feminine gender. For nouns the suffix -za is now preferred.
-adre : repetitive modifier
-adu : Created verbs from nouns that are not suited for unmodified use as verbs.
-ali : “of or pertaining to the root”.
-ayt : substrate or produce of a verb.
-ele : patient noun (neuter). Gendered forms -elzo (male) and -elza (female).
-er : possible agent noun ending for inanimates.
-fu : measurement full (eg handful)
-i (-yi)/-hi : forms generic adjectives or adverbs. Generic adjective suffix: “inclined to ~” or “having the quality of ~”. For example, kwahi = watery. Added to a noun it may form a possessive phrase. Deani kwa = Dean's water.
-ibel :  forms passive modifiers resembling many English words ending in -ible/-able.
-ija : means to become or begin to be in the state described by the root. It forms inchoative/inceptive verbs. Using the same examples “redija” means “to become red” (“to blush” perhaps?) and “duija” “to start doing”.
-ika : creates a verb meaning the action of making, causing or rendering into the root or causing an object to gain the characteristic of the root. –ika verbs are causative.
-imu : creates verbs from nouns with the meaning of turning something into the root.
-in/-hin : makes a verb into an active participle adjective or verbal noun. As a noun it usually describes a process and/or product of that process. See -ng/-ing.
-ire : forms modifiers expressing time intervals (daily, monthly etc).
-iso : When compounded with a word means closely resembling that quality. Equivalent of -like in English.
-ge : makes a verb into a passive participle adjective or noun designating a completed action.
-kom : has the quality described or includes that specified. literally “with ~ (included)”.
-li : forms adverbs that mean “in the manner of ~”.
-n/-en : Suffix creating simple past form. Not required for past perfect form which includes “ha” as an auxverb. 
Simple past form is also used for past-participle/adjectives and as a verbal noun.
The -n/-en form is possibly used for passive voice, although only really needed if “bi” is used as an auxverb rather than “ge”.
-n” after most constonants, “-en” after nasals (-n, -m, -ng) and vowels except “-e”. “-hen” after words ending in “-e”. “rn” often resembles “m” so -ren may be used instead.
-ng/-ing : Creates the gerund/verbal noun and active/present participle forms of a verb. “ŋ/-iŋ” may be used where available.
Follows same rules of word construction as “-n/-en”.
-o : The suffix -o when applied to pronouns and certain animate nouns indicates male gender. For nouns the suffix -zo is now preferred.
-or : agent noun for animates. Optionally, -orze -orzo: male agent(s), -orza female agent(s). 
-osi : abundant modifier. ~full, in the sense of “hateful”.
-par : when used as a suffix/compound on a word means something seems to resemble that word. Used like -oid in words like “humanoid”.
-te : -te, when used with a duoverb, indicates that the verb is in past tense.
-z : -z is used on pronouns and certain non-verbs to indicate plurality.
-za : added to animate nouns to indicate female. May or may not be hyphenated. 
zo : added to animate nouns to indicate male. May or may not be hyphenated.

A

a : a used on its own, marks that the verb it is with is in future tense. Pronounced “ah”. Shortcode : a. See “va”.
ad : to (movement). Zo a kum ad em = He will come to me. “ad” is also used like “at” in English for contexts such as “at 7.00pm”
adin : into.
ad sy: to the side, by, near to.
Adjectives : Adjectives (and adverbs) are often marked by the endings -i, -in, -ge. Attributive adjectives are placed before the noun they describe and between the noun and its determiner or article. Predicative adjectives are placed after the noun. If a copula is used, it is placed between the adjective and noun.
Adverbial-Affix : Creation of new verbs by compounding with adverbs. Link
Adverbs : As modifiers, adverbs are often marked by the endings -i, -in, -ge. The -i ending is optional for well-known and obvious adverbs, such as mal or bon.
ajude : to help or aid.
apis : bee (insect).
as…as : “as” can be used for comparisomes, such as in the English phrasing “You are nearly as tall as me!”. Possibly in Diinlang “as” can be used as a more general purpose conjunction and used instead of “than” even when there is a considerable difference between the items.
at : “At” is used to designate points in space or time, and in most cases replaces the use of “on” in English. It substitutes for “in”, although either can be used when the “within/during” requirement is met.
au : diphthong for [aʊ̯]. In English, this is the sound in “loud”, “ouch”, “plough”, “cow”. In earlier versions of Diinlang “ou was used. Link
Auxverb : A verb used as an auxilary verb. Changes the tense and/or voice of the verb that follows it.
av : “off”; not in operation; not in contact (with). (preposition, adverb and adjective).
ave : bird.
ayen/ayeni/ayenhyu : orange-yellow/gold colour or orange-yellow/gold coloured. 

B

bayj/bayji/bayjhyu : yellow-brown colour or yellow-brown coloured. 
bi : to be (verb). When uses as an auxiliary bi indicates the verb tense is progressive/continuous. Spelling be used on some pages. Shortcode : b
blak/blaki/blakhyu : black colour or black coloured.
blu/blui/bluhyu : blue colour or blue coloured.
bohn : bone.
bon/boni : good.
Both : Diinlang does not have specific words for two items, such as “pair”, “both” or “brace” in English. Instead, constructions such as “pan by” (all two), “moje by” (every two) or “jeve by” (each two) are used instead. Such constructions can be used with greater number values.
brun/bruni/brunhyu : brown colour or brown coloured. 
buub : boob

C

Colours : red (red), brun (brown), oren (orange), bayj (yellow-brown), ayen (orange-yellow/gold), yahn (yellow), laym (yellow-green), kwin (green), sian (blue-green/cyan), blu (blue), viol (violet), purp (purple), majn (magenta), pink (pink), blak (black), gri (grey), viyt (white). Link
Copula : copula verbs may be dropped if the meaning is clear. The preferred copula is par (to seem), reminding us that observations and statements are not necessarily reliable. When a more definite statement is warranted, the verbs bi (to be) and ha (to have) may be used. Saying an object “has heat” is preferable to saying it “is hot”.
CV : Consonant(s)-Vowel(s) format. Diinlang uses CV format for many words that are commonly used or particularly useful.
CVC : Consonant(s)-Vowel(s) format. The option of CVC words was introduced into Diinlang when it seemed likely that CVn would not produce enough words. CVC allows for Diinlang words with “hard” endings and for onomatopoeic words.
CVN : Original concept of Diinlang was that all/most words/syllables should have a CVn format. C represents a consonant(s), V” a vowel(s) and N” a nasal such as -m, -n or -ng. CVN format is mainly verbs or nouns. Issues such as acceptable consonant clusters have yet to be finalized. 

D

de : “De” is used as a non-specific preposition, to be used when the use of po or per is uncertain, or to substitute for on, in or at. It is the closest word that Diinlang has for “of” in that it complements “vo”: “Jon vo kanis” means “Jon’s Dog” while “Kanis de Jon” is “Dog of Jon”. “Book de Shakespeare”, like the English equivalent “Book of Shakespeare”, is a little ambivalent. To stress that something is about or by a subject we may use “po” or “on”.
Deanlang : Constructed language project. My own input begain around 2014.
dek : right (direction)
dep : depth/deep/deepness. Quantity of vertical distance downwards.
dg : digtaph used to represent the English “j” sound (IPA: /) since March 2024. Thus, edge=edg, gem=dgem and jam=dgam. The pronounciation or spellingof some Diinlang words will need to be changed accordingly.
dhen : “then” in English. Dhen is a conjunction that is also a preposition. It is used like “and”(e) when the items being described occur in a sequence. In English we say “They got married and had children” but it is more accurate to say “They got married then had children”.
dia : through.
Diinlang : Diinlang when spelt with two i's represents the language in prototype form.
du : to do (verb). Using du as an auxiliary indicates the verb is to be treated as a full-infinitive. Used with a noun it converts the noun to a verb.
Duoverb : Duoverbs are a small group of verbs in Diinlang that have separate present and past tense form. Duoverbs are typically verbs of communication.
duzn : dozen, the number 12. Used when dealing in dozenal (base 12) numbers.

E

e/eh : and (conjunction). Shortcode : e
eje : any
eks : out. Shortcode : x
ekwis : horse (animal)
elva : the number 11 when dealing in base 12/dozenal numbers. One less than duzn.
em : I; first person singular pronoun. Alternative to mi.
emz : We; first person plural pronoun. Alternative to miz.
emask : please
English : Many conlangs avoid using English. English has many useful single syllable words, many of a suitable CV or CVn format.
eo : and/or; pronounced “ə-oh”
ergo : Ergo is “so” or “thus” in English, and presents a consequence:
“He gambled well last night ergo he smoked a cigar to celebrate.” The shorter and more versatile English word “so”, which is also used in Diinlang, may be more useful.

F

fe : fe was introduced in Diinlang 2.1 to replace du for “to do”. It allowed the use of f as a shortcode. Du may be reinstated as it is better phonetically.
felis : cat (animal).
felisjhenza : catwoman.
fing : thing.  
fiyr/fyr : fire
flam : flame.
flamzhan : inflamable
fohn : phone
fohnla : to communicate by phone.
fohnry : to communicate by texting
fohnyak : to speak by phone.

G

gau : nine (9).
gaung : tallness/shortness. Thick in vertical distance/substance upwards.
ge : to get (verb). Creates passive voice when used as an auxiliary with another verb. Shortcode : g
gri/grihi/grihyu : grey colour or grey coloured.
go : to go. Used much the same way as the English verb.
grohs : 144; 100 in base 12/dozenal numbers.
gun : a gun, firearm or item shaped like one.

H

h & u : when there is a vowel clash between syllables or words that are being compounded, a “-h-” is inserted. In the event of a consonant clash, “-u-” is used.
ha : to have (verb). This may be the better choice than he since it is phonetically more distinct. Short code : h
he : to have (verb). Creates perfect tense when used as auxiliary. Note that the vowel sound is very short. ha may be phonetically better. Shortcode : h
hey : greeting or salutation. Time independent. Pronounced : “hay”.
hin : back.
hyu, -hyu : colour, hue

I

iban : possible auxiliary verb or preverbal marker for habitual tense.
if…o : Correlative conjunction used like “whether…or” or “if…or” in English.
if…dhen : Correlative conjunction used like “if…then” in English.
if…e : Correlative conjunction used like “if…and” in English.
if…so : Correlative conjunction used like “just as…so” in English.
ija : begin to cause, start to be.
imi : than/between/within/during
in : in. “In” has a wider range of use in Diinlang than in English. When travelling, you travel in a vehicle rather than by a vehicle. The exception is when you are physically on top of something such as a horse, camel or bike. Then you travel on, rather than by or in. In can be used for when you are within a location, or for during a time period. You would be “in France” or “in Summer”. Italian also uses “in” for constructions such that indicate travel towards a large area. “Vai in Francia” rather than “go to France”. Shortcode : i. Note that some programs automatically capitalize a solitary letter “i” if set for English.
ISV : Where possible, Diinlang uses words compatible with International scientific vocabulary (ISV). For example, the names of many animals are derived from their taxonomic name.
it : neuter third person pronoun for inanimates.
itz : neuter third person pronoun for multiple inanimates. Used when plurality must be emphasized.
iy : the diphthong [aɪ], pronounced as in “eye”, “aye”, “-igh”, “lied” and various other spellings in English. When used within a Diinlang word and placed after a consonant other than “h”, the i may be omitted and just a y used. Link
iso : iso/the same/equal/also. Note in Diinlang the first letter is pronounced as a short-i sound, rather than [aɪ] as used in English.

J

j : Since March 2024, the character “j” is used to represent the phoneme “yod” or IPA:/j/, which in English is the sound given to “y-” at the start of words. This will require the respelling of many words or a change in pronounciation. The English “j” phoneme will be represented by the characters “dg”.
je/jez : je a/an. indefinite article. jez: some, plural form definite article.  When jez is placed before a numeral or equivalent, it has the same meaning as “approximate, about, circa”. Shortcode : j, jz
jeve : each
jhen : person. jhen-zo: male person, jhen-za: female person. Plural means  “people”.
ju : reason; to reason.

K

kanis : dog (canis)
kanen : gratitude.
ke : “what?”. Used as an interrogative or marks a clause or sentence as a question when placed at the start or end. Its resemblance to the Franco-Latin “que” may see it used as a relative pronoun (English “that”) or for comparison (like English “than”).
ke it? : what (thing)? interrogative.
ke jhen? : who?/what person? interrogative.
ke jeve? : Which one? (What each?) interrogative.
ke li? : what manner?/how? interrogative.
ke tem? : when?/what time? interrogative.
ke to? : how big? interrogative.
ke toz? how much? interrogative.
ke un? : which one?/who? interrogative.
ke vang? : what here?/what is this? interrogative.  
ke ving? : what there?/ what is that? interrogative.
ke ze? : who? interrogative.
klok : a clock.
ko : small, little (quality)
kodep : shallow; not deep.
kogaung : vertically short; not tall.
koleng : a short distance; having little horizontal depth.
kovid : narrow; lacking in width.
koz : small, few (quantity/number)
kom : with.
kuk: cook, to cook.
kum : to come (movement)
kwa : water.
kwah : “kwah” is used like “than” in English and separates things being compared. Unlike “than” in English, it can be used in a statement that things are equal or similar if the rest of the sentence is suitably constructed.
kwin/kwini/kwinhyu : green colour or green coloured. 

L

lang : language.
la/late : to say (duoverb) non-past/past. Shortcode : l, lt
laym/laymi/laymhyu : yellow-green colour or yellow-green coloured.
Lego Words : Where possible new words in Diinlang should be created by compounding. To this end the most commonly used or most useful words in Diinlang are of a form that can easily be combined. 
leng : distance, measure, dimension; horizontal distance/length
lev : left (direction)
lexverbs : verbs in Diinlang that are not duoverbs. 
ler (lerte) : to read (duoverb?)
li : manner or way of doing something.
likwe : liquid.
ling, -ling : young and small
lo : low

M

majn/majni/majnhyu : magenta/purple-red colour or magenta/purple-red coloured.
mal/mali : bad
matra : mother
mek : machine/mechanism.
mete : measuring device or instrument; a meter.
mi : I; first person singular pronoun. Alternative to em. Mi is abbreviated with the single letter “m” so it is inevitable that it will also be read as “em”. The spelling me is used on some old pages. Shortcode : m
miz : We; first person plural pronoun. Alternative to emz.
Modifier : generic term for adjective or adverb.
moje : every.
moko/mokoz : lesser, littler, smaller/fewer.
mota/motaz : bigger, larger/many, more numerous.

N

nau : now/present
NAAV : words that belong to noun, adjective, adverb or verb parts of speech.
ne : conjunction serving as an exclusive “and”. Has the meaning “but”, ”yet”, “nevertheless” and “however”.
ne…ne : Correlative conjunction used like “not only…but (also)” in English.
no/non : no, not. non is used for vowel clashes when forming compound words. Shortcode : n
no…no : Correlative conjunction used like “neither…nor” in English. Either or both no may be noz if before a plural.
noje : nothing
nojhen : no-one/no-body
nokom : without
nom : name. 
noniso : uneven, different, not-level.
noz : plural form of no, used to indicate that the subject being negated is plural. Shortcode : nz.
nyam : to chew

O

o/oh : or (conjunction). Shortcode o
o…o : Correlative conjunction used like “either…or” in English.
om : optional marker to indicate accompanying noun or pronoun is the direct object of the statement. When used before a predicative adjective om may function like a copula.
on : “On” sees less use as a preposition than in English. It is generally reserved for when physically on an object. You ride on a bike, meet on a bridge or are on a mountain. In most cases that English would use “on”, in Diinlang the preposition “at” would be used instead. You meet at the high street, at the bank, at one at Tuesday. “Veng” (near) may be used instead. The other use of “on” has the meaning “about”. Rather than having a book about Shakespeare or book of Shakespeare, in Diinlang the translation would be a book on Shakespeare. Constructions such as “talk about…” could either be “talk of (de)…” or “talk on (on)…”
oren/oreni/orenhyu : orange colour or orange coloured.
ovis : sheep (animal).
oy : the diphthong [ɔɪ̯] in Diinlang. The sound in ”oil” and “boy” in English.

P

pan : all, whole. Can mean “every”.
panje : everything/all things.
pan-yu : all of you
par : (copulative verb) “to seem to be”, “to appear to be”.
per : for/leave for, associated with/with respect to. “Per” is  used in Italian, English and Diinlang. Its use in Italian is a little more broader than in English and these applications should also be used in Diinlang. “Per” is used for “for” in uses such as “leave for Rome” or “bus for Milan”. It has the meaning “for/to” and now becomes the complement of “po”. It can also have the meanings “during” (per annum), “for each” (per person), “to each/ in each” (per metre, per hour), “in accordance” (per your request), “by means of” (Li skribis per plumo, Sono passato per il centro) and in some cases mean “as, with, by, via”. Shortcode : p
per li : because
per se : meaning same as in English. For itself, in itself, for myself etc.
pink/pinki/pinkhyu : pink colour or pink coloured.
Plurality : Nouns are made plural by using an article or other determiner ending in -z, or using a quantifier or numerical determiner of a value greater than one. Plural pronouns end in -z.
po : Po” means “from” and is derived from “apo”, used in a number of other languages. It is used with various verbs and directives for constructions such as “down-from” or “run-from”. Po is used to construct more logical terms. Rather than saying “a play by Shakespeare”, Diinlang would say “a play from/po Shakespeare”.
potsu : Word used for rain in earlier versions of Diinlang. “Rayn” is probably a better alternative.
pro : in favour of.
purp/purpi/purphyu : purple colour or purple coloured.

R

re : On its own, re is used to mean “again”. “la ving re!” = “say that again!”. “re la ving!” = “repeat that!”.
rekum : to return.
red/redi/redhyu : red or red coloured. 
reta : very
run : to run. This is the same as the English verb and used in many of the same ways in a variety of meanings.
ry/ryte, riy/riyte : to write (duoverb) present/past

S

sang : blood
se : reflexive pronoun. When combined with a pronoun makes a phrase meaning “myself”, “yourself”, “themselves” etc. When uses as the object of a verb clause refers back to the subject.
Shortcode : Shortcodes are single characters that represent commonly used words in written Diinlang. Link
sian/siani/sianhyu : blue-green/cyan colour or blue-green/cyan coloured.
Single Syllable Strategy : Policy in Diinlang that the most commonly used or most useful words should be a single syllable/phoneme for easy compounding.
siy/sy : side (physical location).
Sixteen Vowels : Derived from Pitman phonetics. The short vowels are a, e, i, o, u, uh. The long vowels are ah, ay, ee, oh, or, uu. The diphthongs are au, iy, oy, yu.
sku : apology
skuz : many apologies.
so: so; used as in English.
sori : sorry
su/suz : relative pronoun used to join two clauses. This can be remembered from the English word “subject”. It is the equivalent of the English “who”, “what”, “which”, or “that” when used in a non-interrogative sense. For “whose” it combines with “vo” as “su vo”.

T

ta : large, big, great (quality)
tadep : deep.
tagaung : vertically high; tall.
taleng : a long distance; having a lot of horizontal depth.
tavid : wide; broad; abundant in width.
taz : large, big (quantity/number).
te : When used with verbs, te is a preverbal marker to indicate that the verb is in past tense. Shortcode : t
tem : time
temtem : frequent; frequency.
temmete : time measuring device; clock; timer; chronometer.
tok : clock noise.
tra : Diinlang now uses the word “tra” to mean “through”, as is done in several other conlangs. The Diinlang word “dia” also means “through”.
trayn : train.
traleng : horizontal depth
trop/trop ta : too (many)
trop ko, trop koz : too little, too few.
tsageer : 1728; 1000 in base 12/dozenal numbers.
tsau : greeting/hello/leaving/goodbye
tu : Diinlang originally used tu as the second person pronoun. It is retained as some users familiar with some natural languages may find this more intuitive. tu is used exactly the same as yu in Diinlang. The two words are fully interchangeable and one should not be considered less formal than the other.

U

un : alternate singular indefinite article, equivalent to “1, one, a, or an” in English. It can be pronounced with a long “uu” sound like the French “une”, or short like “en” or “an”. Shortcode form may be the numeral “1”, since “u” is already used for a pronoun. Un may also be used when an impersonal pronoun is required. It is the equivalent of the English use of “one” in context such as “One should always brush one's teeth”.
Uncount/Mass Nouns : Uncount or mass nouns are treated as singular in Diinlang when selecting articles.
un mota : one more, another.
un ta : a lot.
up : up
upgo : to  ascend or move upwards
upta : high,
upko : not-high; low down but still above,

V

va : Verbal marker indicating future tense.
val : to fall
van : front
vang : this/here.
vangz : these
ve/vez : “the”. definite article. vez: plural form of definite article. ve/vez used without a noun is used as a third person inanimate pronoun. Shortcode : v, vz
ve vang/ving/vangz/vengz : emphasised use as a demonstative determiner. this/that/these/those.
veng : near
verd : leaves/foliage
vetem : when; the time (that) (non-interrogative).
vid : width; lateral horizontal distance.
ving : that/there.
vingz : those.
viol/violi/violhyu : violet/purple-blue colour or violet/purple-blue coloured.
vo : optional genitive marker used with pronouns and nouns. Placed after the noun or pronoun of the owner and before the owned object. Dean vo un kanis = Dean's dog.
vong : yonder, distant.
viyt/viyti/viythyu : white colour or white coloured.

Y

y : from March 2024, the English initial “y-” sound (“yod” or /j/) will be represented by the character “j” in Diinlang. “Y-” as a phoneme effectively becomes redundant in Diinlang. Diinlang words begininng in “y-” should be respelled with “j-”.
ya : yes. Shortcode : y
yahn/yahni/yahnhyu : yellow colour or yellow coloured. .
yak/yakte : to talk (duoverb)
yay, nay : alternatives of ya/ye and no/ne.
ye, ne : alternatives of ya and no.
yu : you; second person pronoun, either singular or plural. Shortcode : u. Also represents the dipthong /ju/ in Diinlang.
yu-em/yu-emz : construction used when it desired to distinguish that an inclusive-we is being used. Literally, “you-me”.
yuz : you (plural), y'all, youse; second person pronoun used when it is desired to make clear that more than a single individual is being addressed .

Z

za : female third person singular pronoun for animates.
zau : subjunctive/conditional preverbal marker.
zaz : female third person plural pronoun for animates.
zhan : to be able to.
ze : neuter third person singular pronoun for animates. Shortcode : z
zez : neuter third person plural pronoun for animates. Shortcode : zz
zo : male third person singular pronoun for animates.
zoz : male third person plural pronoun for animates.

Categories
Language

Additional Collective Nouns for English

I was amusing myself looking at Wiktionary's collection of collective nouns.
There are some that do need to be added, however:
• A density of students
• A magnum of PIs.
• A corps of zombies
• A crew of gremlins
The last two were used in my book “Hell-Ay/Angel Town”.
Categories
Language

Diphthong Phonetics Changes

Following the change to the representation of the diphthong /aʊ/ from “ou” to “au”, some additional changes:
iy” is changed back to “ai”, since many conlangs use this diphthong representation and it is closer to IPA /aɪ/.
I am in two minds as to whether “oy” should be changed to “oi”.
“o” and “i” often occur together when they do not represent a diphthong, such as when the suffix “-ing” is used.
Similar objections apply to changing “ay” to “ei”.
This gives the long vowels and diphthongs represented as ah, oh, au, ay, ai, oi/oy, uu, ee, ir, ayr and uur.
Categories
Language

Design Criteria for Alternate Alphabets

Like many children, I created some alien and fantasy alphabets when I was younger.
I did not understand about phonemes back then, so these were actually simple character substitutions.
I was remined of this recently when a colleague jokingly offered to send me a message in Windigs. I responded that I could reply in Tenctonese font. I am pretty certain he did not understand the reference.

Criteria for New Alphabets

Some of my criteria for creating a new alphabet have been overtaken by technology. Most of our correspondence is now entered by keyboard or the equivalent. A device can form any letters with equal ease.
• The most used characters should be quick and easy to form. My last attempt only got as far as the vowels and a few consonants.
• Characters should be easily formable by a single pen stroke.
• Readers distinguish characters by the upper half, so that should be where the distinctive features are.
• No character should closely resemble another. For example: l, I, 1 (el, ai/iy, wun)
• Characters that are inverted or reversed should not be confused with other characters, including those that are alphabetic, common mathematical, punctuation or numeric. The chracter for number six may be mistaked for a nine, or sometimes an eight.
• Character combinations should not resemble other characters. No more “m” or “rn”.
• Possibly, classes of similar letters might share some common distinguishing feature while still remaining distinctive from each other. I am thinking of Sona’s division of the alphabet into 6 vowels, 6 aspirates, and two groups of 6 consonants, or Shavian voiced/voiceless pairing.
• The most commonly used characters should have some logical resemblance to traditional/Roman/English alphanumeric. ^ for A/a, `for i/I, – for e/E.
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Language

Au Nau Braun Kau

In English, dipthongs are represented by two letter combinations (digraphs). Of course, English being English, digraphs may represent more than one dipthong, and some dipthongs are represented by more than one digraph!
In English, the dipthong “//aʊ//” in IPA is represented by “ou” or “ow”, but is also used in the words “Maori”, “Mcleod”, “sauerkraut” and “umlaut”.
In Diinlang we try to improve on this, with each dipthong only being represented by a single digraph.
In the past, the dipthong represented by “//aʊ//” in IPA has been represented in Diinlang by the digraph “ou”.
Recently it has occurred to me that “//aʊ//” might be better represented by the digraph “au”. This will be more intuitive for users familiar with IPA. It also reduced the number of dipthongs in Diinlang that have digraphs beginning in “o-”.
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Language

Euphony and Syllable Identification

I came across these passages of dialogue in a novel:
“Talekli lamo da ti saso ma, hasi de los padremaso tik de lama… Masa tu so gladji beri rama…”
“… saso ti da mati namo, zara ti raguesta di la ramo…”
“… maso si nami lama”
“Slami makto, shaba tlek na doura rashamateran…”
“Sama slektli, Tara oorsi sa mamda lami se tarakogla me so sani ta deloka de somata so se hakara de sao soma…”
Euphorically, I find this language quite pleasing. There is something of a Mediterranean feel to it, probably due to the numerous open syllables. This is somewhat ironic, since in the novel the languag is supposed to be demonic, or at least trans-dimensional!
There are clear advantages to having a conlang that is both clear and easy to listen to.
Why are these words so pleasing? Euphony is subjective, of course, and one factor will be how the reader will render these letters into sounds. For me, at least, even the longer words were easy to pronounce since my inclination was to treat the words as though composed of Japanese mora: for example “ra-sha-ma-te-ran”. Nearly all these words are treated as being composed of CV or CVn mora. Exceptions to this include “kli”, “tli” “dre” “gla” (CCV), “los”, “tik”, “slek”, “tlek” “es”, “oor” (VC), and “glad”.
This suggests that I have a tendency to treat certain letters as being more likely to terminate a syllable. -k or -d after a vowel are treated as the end of a syllable rather than the start of a following mora. Would the voiced/voiceless equivalents of these letters be treated the same? According to this article on cryptograms, the most common letters to end a word (rather than a syllable) in English are: e, s, t, d. The ending -t suggests to me a perfect or finished aspect. Odd that the word “stop” in English ends in a -p, although one sometimes encounters “stopped” spelt “stopt” in older texts .
Since Diinlang will attempt to utilize compound words, with each syllable being a corresponding “normal” word, there are obvious advantages if there are simple, consistent rules for recognition of where on syllable ends and another starts.
Categories
Language

Why You Should Never LOL

Someone recently repeated to me the old chestnut, “language changes”. I thought about this for a few minutes, and realized this was not actually correct. If anything, “language mutates”. Some of these mutations are useful, others are not, and need to be culled.
I was recently reading Alvin Toffler’s “The Third Wave”. This is one of those books that everyone should read. I would suggest that it be required reading in schools, but it highlights many of the flaws of the Second Wave education system, so very likely not going to happen! I was reading an article on the book, and right in the middle the author makes some comment like “LOL floppy disks”. I did not bother finishing that article. Other than chewing gum with your mouth open while wearing your baseball cap backwards with a tee-shirt saying “Im an Idiot”, I cannot think of a better way to negate any point you were trying to make.
I have, incidentally, worked with someone who would actually laugh out loud at the most trivial of things. It is nowhere as much fun as you might think, and he was a true idiot. On my DVD collection there is a cast interview with an individual who ends every answer he makes with a loud guffaw. It did not make him witty or affable.
Multi-talented comedian Bill Bailey has suggested that any use of LOL be immediately countered with “NELI” (Not Even Laughing Inwardly).
This highlights one of the main flaws in using LOL as a response. Generally it is applied to a comment that was not particularly funny, let along “laugh out loud” funny.
When made as a response to a statement that was not intended to be amusing, it is outright insulting.
Infinitely worse, however, is adding a LOL to your own comment. As the actor referenced above illustrates, laughing at your own jokes does not put one in a good light. It has been considered a social gaffe since long before the internet.
Before I escaped from facebook, I observed there was effectively a rule to using LOL. The rule was:
“If you want to add LOL to the end of a statement, what you said isn’t funny. If it isn’t funny, perhaps you should not say it and look stupid”.
True humour or wit does not need a “rim-shot” or other marker. People will be laughing without being instructed to do so.
Using “LOL” does not make you funny. Instead it comes across as an affected, pretentious, pathetic, self-indulgent plea for affirmation.
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Language

Simple Punctuation for Diinlang 2.1

Punctuation in Diinlang is based on that of English, with a number of simplifications.
When spoken, punctuation of a sentence takes the form of pauses of variable length. When a punctuation symbol would be replaced by a spoken word, a word is used in preference to a symbol in the written form. This is the principle of “Punctuate like you pause”. Thus, one would write “…9 to 5…” or “…teacher or parent…” rather than “…9-5…” or  “…teacher/parent…”.
Full-Stop. When a heading finishes in a line-break it is not necessary to add a full-stop to the terminal word. This improves the aesthetics of the text.
Items in a bulleted list do not need a full-stop unless they are a sentence. Items should not end in a comma nor semi-colon.
Some style guides require the last item on a bulleted list to end in a full-stop. This is redundant unless the item is a sentence.
In Diinlang, ending with a full-stop may be seen as redundant when there is a line-break.
Capitalization rules for Diinlang have yet to be finalized. For now, assume each item in a bulleted list begins with a capital letter.
Commas, The serial comma or “Oxford comma” is permissible in Diinlang. Its use is recommended when its use clarifies the meaning of a list.
Colon: A colon is used in much the same way as in English. It serves to introduce new information such as a quotation, an explanation, an example, or a series.
Whether the information following begins with a capital letter will depend on whether it is a new sentence, a bulleted list, or not. It may be used for emphasis or to join independent clauses.
A colon should not be followed by a hyphen or dash. When writing dialogue, an introductory clause does not need a colon, comma or full-stop if it is immediately followed by a quotation mark on the same line. eg She said “It is time…” An identifier that follows a quotation mark does not need to be capitalized. It is treated as the end of a sentence, however.
Question Mark? A sentence is made a question by adding a question mark to the end.
In Diinlang this represents the word “ke” and is pronounced if the sentence is read-out-loud.
Ke is placed at the start of a sentence to form the Diinlang of “Wh-” questions. In these sentences a “?” may be written at the start of the sentence rather than “ke”.
Exclamation Point! Used as in English. It should be used sparingly unless within dialogue.
Slash/ The slash symbol is used for a number of applications. The slash often represents an alternative.
When used for sentence construction, in many instances it can be replaced by words such as “or”.
If a slash is used, there should be no space between the slash and the following character, unless this would affect clarity.
A slash with a space after is used to quote the lines of a poem when line breaks are not used. eg. She wrote “Challenge in the spring/ Autumn rain bathing in light/ Children laugh lightly/ ”
Semicolon; A semicolon joins independent clauses.
The STE guide notes that the semi-colon is difficult to use correctly and suggests it is never used. It is preferable to use a comma, colon, or construct two sentences instead.
The main use for the semicolon in Diinlang is to separate the items of a complex list. A complex list is one where one or more items contains a comma.
Hyphens and Dashes– Diinlang uses the keys found on a generic keyboard for punctuation.
The hyphen (or more properly, “hyphen-minus symbol”) is used instead of an en-dash.
The hyphen joins two or more words or numbers together so they are treated as a single unit. It may form compound modifiers or compound a modifier with a noun.
When a hyphen joins two numbers, it indicates the numbers represent a unitary concept such as a period of time. Thus, “1914-1918 War”.
Where two numbers are joined together to represent a range, then a word should be used rather than a hyphen. See 9-5 example earier.
In some English uses the hyphen may be replaced by a colon. eg “My team won 3:1!” rather than “…won 3-1”
A double-hyphen is used instead of an em-dash. It is used in place of a comma, parenthesis, or colon. Using these latter symbols is preferable in Diinlang –the use of a double-hyphen or em-dash should be sparing.
A double-hyphen or em-dash might be used when a clause already contained a comma, so could not be isolated with a comma. In this application the double-hyphen is treated like brackets. They are preceeded and followed by a space, but there is no space between them and the phrase or clause within.
A double-hyphen may be used instead of a bullet when making a bulleted list.
A double-hyphen is used instead of a double-em-dash when representing missing letters in a word–“J– told G– that it was ‘All S–!’”
A triple-hyphen replaces the three-em-dash to represent a missing word or the repeated name of an author in a bibliography or reference list.
The above characters are not preceded by a space, with the exception of “?” when used at the start of a sentence and some applications of the hyphen or dash.
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Language

More Ideas for Diinlang 2.1

Proper Determiners

Capitalization is a problem for many in English. Hopefully a simpler set of conventions can be formulated for Diinlang.
A related idea that I had was s specific article or articles for proper nouns and phrases. In English one might write “Meet me at the hole.” or “Meet me at The Hole”. It is clear that in the second case the reference is to an establishment or place called “The Hole”. If spoken, there is no obvious distinction.
Possibly Diinlang could have distinct definite and indefinite articles for use with proper nouns.

Demonstrative Adjectives

I have been reluctant to introduce demonstrative adjective/pronouns for Diinlang. Instead I investigated the idea that the words for “here” and “there” (“vang” and “ving”), could be used instead. Where greater specificity was needed these were combined with the definite article (“ve”): ve vang (this), ve ving (that), vez vang (these) and vez ving (those).
Afrikaans seems for the most part to manage with just a single demonstrative: “dit”. This means “this” or “that” but also serves as a third person neuter pronoun with the meaning “it”. The definite article “die” may be used as a pronoun meaning “this one”, “these”; “that one”, “those”; “he”, “she”, “it”, “they”
Possibly “vit” could be used, with the shorthand “vt”. This would be pluralized as vitz/vtz when necessary. It could be combined with vang or ving when more specificity is needed.

Simple Grammar Rules for Diinlang Verbs

Verbs use the same word for the bare infinitive form and all tenses.
Use the Simple Present Tense for Habitual Actions: A marker for habitual actions may be used, however.
Use the Present Progressive Tense for Current Action: Formed by combining the bare infinitive with the auxilary “bi”: eg. “Em bi go” = “I am going.”
Simple past is made with the marker te and bare infinitive:Em te bi go” = “I went.”
Use Present Perfect for the Unfinished Past: Perfect uses the auxilary verb “he” : “Em he go” = “I have gone.”
Use Present Perfect Progressive for Unfinished Action and Past: “Em he bi go” =  “I have been going.”
Past Perfect for the First of Two Past Actions:Em te he nyam un e em te go on.” =  “I had chewed one and I went on.”
Passive Voice: Passive voice is rendered using the auxiliary verb “ge” with the bare infinitive. Passive statements in English often use the word “by”. In Diinlang equivalent words include po (from), de (nonspecific preposition) and kom (with).
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Language

Penunimate

Penunimate : The time before the final one percent of an operation completes. May be several hours in duration.